New police headquarters opens in East Marlborough

Robert Clarke was joined by family and community members for his swearing-in on April 25.

The public got its first look at the
new Police Operations Center at the East Marlborough Township
Building on the morning of April 25 as newly appointed Chief of
Police Robert Clarke was sworn in.

Board of Supervisors chairman Cuyler
Walker administered the oath of office to Clarke, who was flanked by
family members, township supervisors, police officers and other
township officials.

The new facility, long delayed and much
discussed over the past several years, was placed in the parking lot
behind the townshkip building late last year. It replaced a trailer
that had deteriorated, lacked toilet facilities and was not ADA
compliant.

The new double-wide trailer is twice
the size of the former building and fully accessible, and holds a
locker room, an office for Clarke, storage area and a conference
room, and a reception and office area. There is also a holding area
for handcuffed suspects.

“I just want to thank the supervisors
for appointing me to the position, and having faith in me to do the
job,” Clarke told the crowd. “I look forward to working with
everybody and working with the other chiefs.”

Walker said, “In his prior capacity,
the chief was instrumental in arranging for this new facility for the
police department. I have to say we've known for several years that
the prior accommodations were inadequate. The prior one was half this
size and, most importantly, it did not have all the electrical and
internet connections it needed.

“There was some consideration of the
best location for it,” Walker continued, “and that ended up
extending the process. But a decision was finally made late last
summer, and the trailer was here, but not fully fitted out, at the
end of the year. The police department has been operating out of the
new facility for a couple of months, but during that time they've
been getting all the equipment in place and all the facilities up and
running. We are very proud of the fact that it does meet all of the
ADA requirements, which was a critical priority.

“We waited for what we thought would
be nicer weather to invite people out to see it,” Walker added with
a smile as a cold wind whipped through the crowd. “We thought it
would be spring by now.”